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In a new web ad, Bill Clinton makes a closing argument to Iowa voters.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Two days before the first voting contest of the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton's campaign put forward a closing argument to Iowa voters for a "change-maker, not a change-talker" — as explained by Bill Clinton.
A three-minute campaign video, provided in advance of its release on Saturday, presents the former president's impassioned narrative-based case for Hillary Clinton. Put by her husband, she's the candidate who can deliver on promises to make people's lives better, and has for decades, even outside of elected office.
"She made everything she ever touched better," Bill Clinton says in the video, a compilation of backstage footage and clips from the former president's recent speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire, set against instrumental music.
"Here’s what I know about Hillary. She’s the single best change-maker I’ve ever met in my life. And we need a change-maker, not a change-talker. A change-maker."
Aides have embraced Bill Clinton's telling of the experience-centric message the candidate is pushing in the race here against Sen. Bernie Sanders, alluded to in the clip as the "change-talker." The Clintons made their first "Get Out The Caucus" appearance together on Friday before 1500 people in Davenport, the eastern left-leaning city.
In one scene, Bill Clinton is shown telling a small group of voters, "It’s hard work. It’s policy. The country needs somebody who can actually get something done."
He offers voters three examples ("I’ll tell you a couple stories you may not know") from their time in Arkansas, labeled "Exhibits 1-3" in the video. Hillary, he says in the clip, worked to improve the state's mismanaged school system, juvenile prison system, and early childhood education. The program she helped bring from Israel to Arkansas in the 1980s, called the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth, or HIPPY, has now helped thousands of children across 26 states, he says:
She comes in one day just jumping up and down happy... 'I found it. I found a preschool program in Israel that teaches people to be their children’s first teachers, even if they’re illiterate. I think it would work here.' I said, 'Well, what are we going to do?' She said, 'I did it. I called the woman who started it. She’ll be here in 10 days, and we’re gonna start this program.' Now, here’s what happened. Next thing I know I’m going to these little graduations for preschoolers. Next thing you know it’s in 26 states. It’s still thriving. and there are thousands of people in this country who have better lives and learned more, just because of her. And they have no clue, and she didn’t care, and she hadn’t been elected to anything.
"She just made something good happen," Bill Clinton says. "Everything I have told you, I believe with my own heart. She’s the best person to win the election, the best person to implement the changes we need, economically and socially. The best person to preserve the gains we’ve made under President Obama."